Evaluated articles

eLife assessment

Using continuum theory of elastic solids the authors present evidence that periodic muscle contraction leads to elongation of C. elegans embryos by storing elastic energy that is subsequently released by extending the embryo's long axis. This important finding could apply to other developmental processes and be exploited in soft robotics. The presented evidence is convincing on the phenomenological level adopted in the work. How bending energy is converted into elongation on a more microscopic level remains to be worked out.

eLife assessment

This important study represents a follow-up of previous papers by Huff et al. (2023) in which the authors further investigate a specific medullary region named the Postinspiratory Complex (PiCo) involved in the control of swallow behaviour and its coordination with breathing. In the present work, they tested the impact of chronic intermittent hypoxia on the swallow motor pattern evoked by optogenetic stimulation of the same medullary area in transgenic mice. These solid results indicate that in chronic intermittent hypoxia-exposed mice PiCo stimulation triggers atypical swallow motor patterns. The experimental procedures are rigorous and technically remarkable. The work will be of interest in the field of respiratory physiology and pathophysiology since a disruption of swallowing and possibly discoordination with breathing may be involved in diseases characterized by the presence of hypoxic conditions such as obstructive sleep apnea.

eLife assessment

This manuscript provides a valuable demonstration that distractor effects in multi-attribute decision-making correlate with the form of attribute integration (additive vs. multiplicative). The evidence supporting the conclusions is convincing, but there are questions about how to interpret the findings. The manuscript will be interesting to decision-making researchers in neuroscience, psychology, and related fields.

eLife assessment

This valuable study uses convincing state-of-the-art neuroimaging analyses to characterise whole-brain networks during reward-based motor learning. This work motivates future research to dissociate why the observed changes in neural connectivity occur and how they support reward-based motor learning. The study is highly relevant for researchers at the intersection of decision-making and sensorimotor learning.

eLife assessment

This study by Ghafari et al. tackles a question relevant for the field of attention as it connects structural differences in subcortical regions with oscillatory modulations during attention allocation. Using a combination of Magnetoencephalography (MEG) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data in human subjects, the valuable results show that inter-individual differences in the lateralisation of alpha oscillations are explained by asymmetry of subcortical brain regions. The strength of evidence is deemed convincing in line with current state-of-the-art.

eLife assessment

Miyano et al. study the impact of RIM-BP2 deletion at mossy fiber synapses, using direct electrophysiological recordings from mossy terminals and STED super-resolution microscopy. The paper addresses an important question in the field of synaptic transmission and provides compelling evidence demonstrating reduced calcium channel abundance in mossy terminals upon RIM-BP2 removal.

eLife assessment

The authors present a comprehensive set of tools to compactly characterize the time-frequency interactions across a network. The utility of the toolbox is compelling and demonstrated through a series of exemplar brain imaging datasets. This fundamental work adds to the repertoire of techniques that can be used to study high-dimensional data.

eLife assessment

This study presents important insights on the impact of SARS-CoV-2 variants on the binding and neutralization of a small library of nanobodies. The authors should be applauded for their comprehensive in vitro and in silico analyses of nanobody targeting of SARS-CoV-2 variants. The evidence supporting the claims of the authors is now convincing. This work will be of great interest to researchers in the fields of antibody/nanobody engineering and SARS-CoV-2 therapeutics.

eLife assessment

This is an important information-theoretic re-analysis of human intracranial recordings during reward and punishment learning. It provides convincing evidence that reward and punishment learning is represented in overlapping regions of the brain while relying on specific inter-regional interactions. This preprint will be interesting to researchers in systems and cognitive neuroscience.

eLife Assessment

This valuable study combines anatomical tracing and slice physiology to examine how anterior thalamic and retrosplenial inputs converge in the presubiculum, a key region in the navigation circuit. The authors show that near-simultaneous co-activation of retrosplenial and thalamic inputs drives supra-linear presubiculum responses, revealing a potential cellular mechanism for anchoring the brain's head direction system to external visual landmarks. Their thorough experimental approach and analyses provide convincing evidence for the cellular basis of how the brain's internal compass may be anchored to the external world, laying the groundwork for future experimental testing in vivo.

eLife assessment

The solid study addresses the role of extracellular matrix (ECM) in neuronal migration. The authors showed that the interaction between the ternary complex formed by tenascin-C, the chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan neurocan, and hyaluronic acid is important for the multipolar to bipolar transition in the intermediate zone (IZ) of the developing cortex

eLife assessment

This important work by Hann et al. advances our understanding of the role of the survival motor neuron (SMN) protein in coordinating pathogenesis of the spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). The authors addressed many concerns raised by the reviewers, providing convincing evidence in terms of skeletal analyses not being able to satisfactorily elucidate SMN regulation of bone development.

eLife assessment

This important study identifies the gustatory receptors for sugar sensing in the larval and adult forms of the cotton bollworm, which is responsible for the destruction of many food crops world-wide. The authors find that the larval and adult forms utilise different receptors to sense sugars. The data are convincing and will be of interest neuroscientists working in sensory coding of sugars and to the pest management field.

eLife assessment

This study presents a valuable report on the first warm autopsy case of a metastatic prostate cancer patient and the follow-up genomic and epigenomic analysis. The evidence supporting the claims of the authors is solid, although inclusion of more discussion of the study limitation and elaboration of mechanistic link for TP53, CDK12, and CDKN1B mutations would have strengthened the study. The work will be of interest to medical biologists working on prostate cancer.

eLife Assessment

This important study examines the effects of NFKB2 mutations on pituitary gland development through hypothalamic-pituitary organoids. The evidence supporting the main conclusions is solid, although analysis of additional clones to exclude inter-clone variability would strengthen the conclusions. This is a revised study, but insight into the mechanism of action of NFKB2 during pituitary development is incomplete. This work will be of interest to endocrinologists and biologists working on pituitary gland development and disease.

eLife assessment

This valuable study presents findings that suggest the need for postoperative type 2 diabetes screening and that this should be prioritized in colorectal cancer survivors with overweight/obesity regardless of the type of colorectal cancer treatment applied. The evidence supporting the claims of the authors is solid and the authors use a population-based cohort study including all Danish colorectal patients who had undergone colorectal cancer surgery between 2001-2018. The work will be of interest to medical biologists, endocrinologists and oncologists working on colorectal cancer.

eLife assessment

This useful paper addresses a novel exercise mimetic agent on muscle exercise and performance. While the data provided are interesting, the evidence is incomplete, as much of it is correlative.

eLife Assessment

The authors established a useful syndetome differentiation protocol from human induced pluripotent stem cells, guided by single-cell transcriptomic analysis. Their findings could significantly impact the field, particularly for patients needing tendon cell therapy. However, the evidence presented is currently incomplete, as the authors did not yet test the applicability of their protocol across multiple human induced pluripotent stem cell lines.

eLife assessment

This study presents valuable new insights into a HIV-associated nephropathy (HIVAN) kidney phenotype in the Tg26 transgenic mouse model, and delineates the kidney cell types that express HIV genes and are injured in these HIV-transgenic mice. A series of compelling experiments demonstrated that PKR inhibition can ameliorate HIVAN with reversal of mitochondrial dysfunction (mainly confined to endothelial cells), a prominent feature shared in other kidney diseases. The data support that inhibition of PKR and mitochondrial dysfunction has potential clinical significance for HIVAN.

eLife assessment

This study presents a valuable dissection on how functional HSCs are expanded in PVA cultures. The functional and multi-omic analyses provided are convincing, although the additional data and their analysis provided during revision could have been included in the test to assist readers and to strengthen the published manuscript. Nevertheless, the present work will be of value for stem cell biologists interested in HSC regulation.